The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-05-09
A RUN ON THE BANK.

A Committee of Merchants Help q De-
kOta Banker Through = Panic.
ran across New York man the other
day who is largely interested in the bank
ing business of Dakota. The converse
ton drifted into discussion of the char
acter of the people out there. '"They may
be rough in their manners - said, he land
uneouth in their way, but they stand by
a man when he is in trouble and they
never forget friend. had an opportu-
nifty" he went on, ''to test this trait not
many years ago. The bank of the town
where l was staying found itself greatly
embarrassed one fine day by the failure of
its principal correspondent in the terri
tory. This fact became known late in the
afternoon of the day that the news Of the
failure reached the town. A run on the
bank the following morning was newt
able. To meet it there was but So, GOO in
the vaults. The remainder of the assets
could not Immediately be turned into
ready cash.
''The president of the bank was at his
wits end. He didn't know what to do.
Morning came and he decided to close the
bank He was about to give the neces-
sary orders when i'll walked a committee
of the leading merchants of the place.
They asked for an explanation of the sit
uatiOn. 1t was given to them and like
wise an opportunity 70 look at the books.
A short examination sufficed to show that
the bank was only temporarily embar-
raised. They said to the president, You
open the doors at 10 o'clock as usual and
pay the depOsitOrs; Wen see you through
this thing But how are you going to do
its' said the president Il have but
$4,000 here and there are at least $50, 900
in deposits to be met. Half of that sum
is clamOring on the sidewalk now.
Never mind, you open the bank and go
ahead, said the committee, and we Will
see you through
"Wen, the bank was opened and in
rushed the depOsitors and out went the
money. The pile of greenbacks ON the
cashiers desk grew smaller and smaller
and the crowd of deposttors continued to
increase with every minute Still the pay
ing at the teller's window went on. On
the sidewalk the people who had drawn
their money were met by some of the
merchants who had promised to see the
bank through. what are you going to
do with your money! they would ask. Il
don't know came the answer. Suppose
you leave it with us; you know our house
and know that we are responsible. We
will give you our note and so much in
terest' To the farmers for the majority
of depositors were farmers) the money
in their pockets where it drew no interest
was of little use; they preferred, of course,
the notes and we're without difficulty per-
suaded to part with their money. AS
soon as they had received the money the
merchants would deposit it in the bank
TAe same money was paid over the
counter three times or oftener in the
course of the day, and when the bank
closed at 3 O'Clock in the afternoon it had
in its vaults as much money as it had
started with in the morning, and with
$4,000 it had paid over $50, 900 of de-
posits. The promptness with which it
met the demands of the depositors stayed
the panic and the next morning there was
not the slightest indication of run. This
is an absolutely true story" said my in
formant in conclusion, ''for was myself
the president of that bank. Now car
you match that by anything in the eastS''
Cor. New York Tribune